The Washington critic., 1887-04-04
WASHINGTON, APRIL 4, 1887.
PROTESTS AGAINST THE INTER-
STATE COMMERCE. LAW.

The preliminary hearings before the
Interstate Commerce Commissioners
are of surprising oharacter-a char
acter calculated TO impress the new
Commissioners most strongly with the
complicated and difficult nature of their
duties, the vast responsibilities and the
almost ineXplicabe confusion attendant
upon their work.
The arguments presented by the rep.
rescntatlves of the Southern railroads
and commercial bodies cannot fail to
impress all who are responsible for the
enactment rs well rs those charged
with the enforcement uf tie law. This
voice Of the great transportation aud
con- IN rcial interests uf a large re ion
of the South IS IN effect. tmlthu trans.
portation systems have gruwn up In
response to the demand, of trade and
commerce and have been regulated and
controlled In all respects by the dictates
of the interests which they served and
developed; that producers and shippers
have regulated rates and arrangements
such as were best for the localities in
terested, and that arbitrary interference,
of any kind, legislative enactment
bringing about any sudden change,
would be hurtful to all and disastrous
TO many of the interests involved.
So bold and comprehensive n protest
aims at every important feature of the
Interstate Commerce act. The aboli.
tion of pooling, the regulation of long
haul rates and every other arbitrary
interference" contemplated by the law
appears to come within this comprehen.
sive declaration of disturbing and dis.
astrous changes of existing conditions.
This attack upon the Interstate Com.
melce law In all its bearings would
seem TO be made in the house of its
friends. The commercial bodies that
send up this cry of alarm clamored
loudest for the law.
The Southern protest is the first to
be heard by the Commission, but others
aIe waiting their turn that are scarcely
less comprehensive. Indications are
not lacking that the Commissioners are
beginning to appreciate the difficulty,
amounting almost to impossibility, of
the regulation by inileXible rule or by
the exercise Of their discretion, of
many of the vast commercial interests
upon which the experimental effort to
legisla,e has been tried
One of the leading commercial agcn-
cies, In its weekly trade review, an.
nounces that
The o inlon grows that the Interstate Act
will help the railroads rather than commerce.
MAN. features are % intcG ont IN which It
seems 10 have been framed expressly for their
interests lis evident tendency Is TO cause
lower CHARGES ou local traffic which Is the
smaller, and higher charges on the long
through traffic. which for important roads is
the larger II cuts OH many rebates, passes,
special rates to Commercial travellers, agents,
and attendants Of freight, and this alone will
largely Increase the a'rrcggta cost of trans
portat,on 10 the commercial world.
of course the growing opinion re.
ferred 10, If II is m enlightened one, is
not well expressed. II could not be
that any lnw would help the railroads
that would iniure commerce The dis.
Covery referred to doubtless Is that the
new law does rst confer benefit on
producers and shippers by arbitrarily
cutting down the expense of shipments,
but that, on the contrary, 1t in many
instances must serve TO increase the
cost Of transportation.